Sri Lanka’s president has denied reports that he demanded bribes for construction project contracts to be granted on the island, following the leak of internal emails and an ongoing Australian police investigation.

Maithripala Sirisena, said in an overnight statement that he had "no knowledge of the incident" and instead requested further details of the case.

A Red Cross officer was detained and interrogated by the Sri Lankan military after visiting the relatives of a missing person who was a high-ranking member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reports IPS. 

Speaking to IPS anonymously, the officer was reported to have been "detained by the military for over three hours". 

"“The family in India did not know, I did not know, that he was a high-ranking member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The moment I went to his house to seek information, the military was outside,” the officer said. 

Sri Lanka's army commander, Lieutenant General Crishantha de Silva this week rejected statements made by politicians that military camps in the North would be scaled back, stating that no decision had been made. 

“No decision has been taken to remove Army camps in the North and there is no truth behind this claim,” he was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying on Thursday, whilst addressing a press briefing at the Colombo Defence Seminar. 

One of Scotland’s most senior judges had criticised the current British Prime Minister for dismissal of a Tamil asylum claim last year.

Former Lord Advocate Lord Boyd of Duncansby said that then Home Secretary Theresa May had “acted unreasonably” and was “too ready to dismiss” letters from the asylum seeker’s family who insisted his life was under threat in Sri Lanka.

The asylum seeker, a former LTTE cadre, was attempting to stay in Scotland when the Home Secretary refused to allow further evidence to be heard in his case in November 2015.

The body of a Muslim businessman who was abducted last week has been found, some 100km north of the southern capital Colombo.

Mohammed Sakeem Sulaiman, a 29 year old from Bambalapitiya, was reported missing on Sunday. He had recently complained to the CID about fraud committed by other business people amounting to Rs 70 million, the Daily Mirror reported. The abductors had kidnapped him from his home.

His body was discovered on Wednesday.

A major corruption scandal has revealed that Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena demanded a “political donation” be paid by an Australian company, in order to secure construction contracts on the island.

A Fairfax Media investigation uncovered company emails from the Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC) that revealed the Sri Lankan president and his adviser demanded a political "donation" be made in order to secure a construction contract.

Displaced Tamil families in Paravipanchan, Kilinochchi last week ended their hunger strike against the Sri Lankan military's occupation of their land, after the Tamil National Alliance leader, R Sampanthan assured them the land would be released within two weeks. 

In a series of video clips published by LankaSri, the elderly TNA leader is seen getting out of a vehicle to be met with the full team of key TNA figures, including the spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran, the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi leader, Mavai Senathirajah, the Uthayan editor and TNA MP, Saravanabhavan and the Kilinochchi MP, S Sritharan. 

A new Sri Lankan constitution would be put to a referendum after being presented in parliament, the leader of the House, and the minister of higher education and highways, Lakshman Kiriella said last week. 

“We know where our government is headed. Our main priority is to create a new constitution. All parties present in Parliament have put behind their radical ideas and come to a common ground," Mr Kiriella was quoted by FT.lk as saying during an opening ceremony for a hostel at Eastern university, in Batticaloa. 

Attempts by officials to survey land in Pallimunai, Mannar were halted on Tuesday after villagers protested against further land grabs and refused entry to the officials. 

The land which originally belonged to 19 Tamil families is currently under the the military's control and houses a navy base. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R Sampanthan called for the release of Tamil political prisoners, stating that their continued detention was impeding hopes of reconciliation and criticised Sri Lanka's draconian Prevntion of Terrorism Act.